He’s done it: Charles Leclerc wins in Monaco

Seven years he’s waited. Seven years of terrible luck to the point where it became a curse. Seven years and he’s finally done it: Charles Leclerc has won his home Grand Prix of Monaco. The man who grew up watching the Formula 1 cars from his home, who used to take the bus to school on these very streets when he was a boy. The Ferrari driver got pole position for the third time here, but this time finally managed to bring it home.

If you were around in 1929, you'd have witnessed cars racing in the streets of Monte Carlo for almost a century. Today it was once again time for the iconic Monaco Grand Prix. It is a total of 260.3 kilometres (161.7 miles) of perhaps not always the most exciting in terms of overtakes, but definitely in terms of racecraft. It proves that Formula 1 drivers are basically superhumans compared to us mortals, navigating the narrow streets between the barriers at tremendous speeds. It is a privilege to behold every year, and this time was no exception.

First lap carnage

The five red lights went out and Charles Leclerc and his teammate Carlos Sainz got away brilliantly at the first start (that’s called foreshadowing). Oscar Piastri in P2 less so, meaning that Sainz was all over him in the first corner of Sainte Devote. Historically these two make a great combo on track and today was no exception: the Ferrari and McLaren touched, causing a puncture for Sainz and promoting Lando Norris onto the podium places in P3. Leclerc led the race going into the tunnel, short on his rear gunner and with Piastri in hot pursuit behind.

They were barely at the Nouvelle Chicane when the Red Flag was waved. Not because of Sainz, who was limping back to the pits at this point. But because Sergio Pérez decided that after wrecking his car in qualifying last year, he’d try to spice things up by doing it during the race this year. At the back of the field, he came together with Haas-driver Kevin Magnussen going up Beau Rivage. Nico Hulkenberg tried to go by, but three don’t go together in Monaco and he was inevitably drawn into the carnage as well. After being disqualified from qualifying on Saturday after a miscommunication, it really was a day for Haas to forget.

Meanwhile in P11, Esteban Ocon decided there was room yet for more carnage and torpedoed his Alpine into his teammate at Portier. Pierre Gasly in turn denied his fellow Frenchman entrance to the tunnel, instead launching him into the beautiful Monaco sky and nearly causing him to skip the tunnel altogether.

All drivers were thankfully okay, but unfortunately one of the photographers wasn’t so lucky. They had to be taken to the hospital after being hit by debris, thankfully with no major injuries. But the first lap of the GP hadn’t even been completed yet and we’d already lost 20% of the grid. Fortunately, Leclerc wasn’t the only Monégasque that was on it today: the marshals on track were phenomenal in clearing up the multiple cars and sea of debris on the beautiful seashore that is Beau Rivage. Soon, it was time to go racing once again.

Segio Pérez' car after the lap 1 crash

We’ve had one start, yes. What about the second start

Sixteen cars lined up on the grid for the standing restart. Sainz actually had a rare stroke of good fortune as the starting order was reinstated and allowed him to return to P3 between the two McLarens of Piastri and Norris. This time, the grid was gracious enough to actually make it through the first lap without any dilly-dallying. Fernando Alonso remembered his name and picked off fellow past winner of the Monaco GP Daniel Ricciardo at the restart. Meanwhile, the top 10 remained unchanged, Gasly living his best life without Ocon. Running in P10, the Frenchman was on track to win his first point of the season.

By lap 10, the four front-runners had decided to show off their superiority and had broken away from the rest of the field. Suddenly I found myself de-aging more than 10 years as I watched the Ferraris and McLarens battle it out for the win. The McLarens not in papaya or their red-and-silver livery, but instead sporting a beautiful Ayrton Senna-inspired livery to commemorate the racing legend who passed away 30 years ago.

Championship leader Max Verstappen was nowhere near the front, the Dutchman being stuck in a silver sandwich between the Mercedes cars of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. Behind Hamilton, Verstappen still of course had his teammate for a rear gunner— or so he should have. Thankfully, no one had told Yuki Tsunoda that he was in a VCARB instead of the other Red Bull, evident from his speed all weekend. The Japanese driver was looking for another point finish this season in eighth place. Unfortunately, since he really was in a VCARB, the gap between him and the 7-time world champion soon began to grow.

Back in front, all eyes were on the Monégasque driver. Since 2017 he’s been racing in Monaco and since 2017 he’s been exceptionally fast on home soil. Yet he’s never once even stood on the podium in his home race, now known as the Monaco Curse. The Australian behind him denied him the chance to drive off into the distance, managing to stay close to the leading Ferrari through every turn and keeping us at the edge of our seats.

While Leclerc probably prayed not to be hit by his curse again, Piastri and Sainz behind were casually combining going between the Monaco barriers at lightspeed with becoming part of their respective strategy teams. Leclerc apparently being in such a hurry to finally win his home Grand Prix that it seemed impossible for him to slow down and back up Piastri. This meant that Norris in fourth was awfully close to having a free pit stop on fellow Briton George Russell in fifth.

In the meantime, Aston Martin proved that no infighting between teammates is needed for trouble. Lance Stroll was leading Alonso while he decided to test the strength of the barriers in Nouvelle Chicane all on his own. Result: a puncture for the Canadian, along with a nice trip through the pitlane and to the back of the field.

Meanwhile Verstappen was getting bored in P6 and decided to come in for a pitstop. Someone forgot to tell Lewis Hamilton this, because without him pushing on his out lap Mercedes had essentially given Verstappen a free stop. While Verstappen had his bit of fun, Valtteri Bottas decided to grace us with a rare on-track overtake on Logan Sargeant at Mirabeau. Good stuff from the Finnish driver. Stroll then started his redemption arc and overtook Guanyu Zhou in the tunnel and subsequently Sargeant at Sainte Devote. Zhou decided he wanted in as well and tried to pick off Sargeant too, but Williams chose to pit the American driver before that could happen. Sargeant then proceeded to Uno reverse the Chinese driver and overtook him in a rather clever way while they were both getting lapped by Norris.

The race was nearing its end and Norris realised he wasn’t going to get that free pit stop on Russell after all. No matter, though. The top four had all swapped tyres from medium to hard during the Red Flag, meaning they didn't need to come back in for a pit stop again. This was great news for Ferrari, who finally managed to fix their Achilles' heel of tyre degradation this season. While Piastri’s tyres were starting to get away from him, Leclerc was cruising out in front towards the happiest moment in his life.

The Monégasque has been driving in a league of his own all weekend, proving once again why he is called il Predestinato by the Tifosi. After all the hardship, all the bad luck, Leclerc takes the chequered flag and claims that long-coveted Monaco win. You can feel the emotion in his voice, you can feel the elation from the crowd. Finally the dream comes true.

Charles Leclerc celebrates with his team

Aftermath

After retiring, Ocon was handed two penalty points and a five-place grid penalty for the coming race in Montréal, Canada. Alpine team principal Bruno Famin reportedly telling the Frenchman there will be consequences to his actions. The Frenchman’s contract with Alpine runs out this season, by the way. Meanwhile at Haas, Magnussen gets to drive another day, because the FIA decided not to further investigate the incident. The Danish driver is currently on 10 penalty points. Two more penalty points this season will result in a one race ban for him.

It may not have been the most thrilling Grand Prix to watch for some. But seeing Leclerc, Sainz and team principal Fred Vasseur on the podium while the Italian anthem plays is always somewthing to behold. Afterwards, Prince Albert II of Monaco drapes his flag over hometown hero Charles Leclerc and enthusiastically joins in while the champagne is sprayed. It is going to be a long and happy night in the Principality.